Whenever I’m sick, or blue, or feeling a little worn, or cold inside, I make this simple chicken soup. I make it from scratch and it takes about an hour and a half total. The broth is flavorful and delicious. Even my baby licks his lips when slurping it with his spoon!
Once you make soup from scratch, you can’t go back. Bouillon cubes? Blech! Nothing but salt and other additives. It’s so easy to make chicken stock. Even though it takes a a good hour in simmering, with this recipe you hardly have to do a thing. And it’s very versatile. The result: deep flavors to warm up every corner of your body.
Simple Chicken Soup
- 1 whole, grain-fed chicken (or if you really want to make it fast, just use chicken breast, but with the bones please!)
- 3 slices of lemon
- Half a head of garlic, smashed up
- Some parsley
- A bit of salt
- Vegetables (any kind you like), chopped
- Some olive oil
1) Rinse the raw chicken and place in a pot. Cover with water.
Making Chicken Stock
2) Throw in the lemon slices, smashed garlic and parsley. Add a good pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, and bring it down to medium to simmer for about an hour, or until the chicken is done. Remove the lemon slices after about 5 minutes. We just want a tang of lemon.
Side-by-side
3) In another pot, fry up your chopped vegetables with a bit of olive oil. I recommend carrots and celeri, with onions and garlic. Another favorite of mine is leek and garlic. There’s a million ways to do this. Whatever you choose, don’t overcook them.
Drain the chicken stock into the vegetables.
4) Drain the chicken stock into the pot with the vegetables. Chop up the chicken and throw in as much as you like in with the vegetables. Let simmer for a while to finish cooking the vegetables.
5) That’s it. Enjoy!
Dig in!
New Covent Garden (@NewCoventGarden)
September 28, 2011
This looks like a great recovery soup! Why not enter it into our Soup of the Month competition! http://bit.ly/oTeAAU